Game Time
by ObsessedFan1
Summary: When Yuugi finally completed the Millennium Puzzle, he was in too much pain to understand much, in too much pain to know quite what was going on...but he knew, somehow, that someone was trying to protect him... Based off of Season 0.


**I haven't admitted to writing for this fandom since I first started writing fanfiction. Thankfully, I can actually admit to entering back into it as most people should have forgotten my last attempt to write for Yu-Gi-Oh. Which I don't own. Just sayin' it for legal reasons here, folks.**

 **B** **y the way, when narration sounds like Yami, it is Yami. He just doesn't know he's Yami and not Yugi, so he calls himself Yugi.**

* * *

Yuugi gasped as Ushio-san punched him in the stomach again. He could feel that Ushio-san was winding down on his beating, having developed the instinct years ago when the bullies had moved from taunting to hitting. It had barely been five minutes, the shortest beating he had ever received in high school, but Ushio-san was tall, strong, and disinclined to pull his punches.

Yuugi hunched over, breathing hard, his hand going to the side of his chest. The pain there could mean his rib had been fractured, but he hoped he was wrong. He had only been able to hide the fact that his "nosebleeds" and his "accidents with a door" had been caused by other people because Jii-chan had chosen to turn a blind eye; a broken rib would have to be treated by a doctor, who'd tell Jii-chan, who'd tell the principal, who'd discipline the bullies, and who would, in turn, take their newfound anger out on Yuugi. He prodded it a bit more. It didn't seem too damaged, he could prob─

Ushio-san's foot connected with his back, knocking him forward into the school wall. Pain erupted in his face, his cheek and chin feeling the worst. Yuugi lost his balance and fell onto his aching chest. His back pack lay next to him, opened by the force of one of Ushio-san's previous blows. The Millennium Puzzle was only a foot away from his eyes, the empty slot where the last piece was supposed to go gaping.

"That's enough for today. Tomorrow we'll show the fruits of your education," Ushio-san said above him. Yuugi gulped, regretting that he had even come back to the school. He should have waited until tomorrow to find the last piece of the Puzzle. Ushio-san would have done the same thing, but at least then Anzu or Jounouchi-kun or Honda-kun would have found him…would have helped him…

He closed his eyes. His _friends_ would have _tried_ helped him. But Yuugi knew that it wouldn't have made a difference. Anzu wouldn't have been able to stand up to Ushio-san, nor did Yuugi want her getting hurt for trying. Jounouchi-kun and Honda-kun wouldn't have done much, they were firm believers in "tough love." He would have had to pay Ushio-san anyways, with money or with blood. Payment in exchange for hurting Yuugi's friends…

He just wanted friends. Yuugi had been alone most of his life, what was wrong with wanting that? He had Anzu, but she was constantly spending time either in her clubs or working on her studies. Jounouchi-kun and Honda-kun were only his friends because they hated seeing how weak he was and were trying to help him. Even Miho-chan only acknowledged him when she wanted help on a crossword puzzle.

Puzzle…forever unfinished. His wish for friends, forever unattainable because of that one piece. He heard yelling, Ushio-san and another boy. Someone ran towards him, and told him, "Yuugi! Hey! Hang on!" Was it his imagination? Was he imagining a friend, someone would rescue him and never turn away because of how weak he was? The person he had wished for?

"I…asked the puzzle…for some true friends." It seemed important to say it, to confirm whether or not this person was real. The person −the friend− didn't respond, but Yuugi felt something in his palm, like a small object being put in it, and his fingers were curled around it.

"Ushio-san! Up till now, I've respected you…but…I can't just let this stand!" Someone else, not Ushio-san or the person who had told him to hold on, yelled. The presence at Yuugi's side left as Ushio-san said, "Oh! You think two on one is going to make you win?" Ushio-san saw them? They weren't a part of Yuugi's imagination, then. And there were two of them. Could it really be…

Voices yelled, and the sound of flesh hitting flesh filled Yuugi's ears. _I…I made a wish on the puzzle…I told it I wanted true friends,_ he thought, his head clearing somewhat. _Someone who would never betray me…A true friend who would never betray me…No matter what…_ Fists and feet met faces and chests; Yuugi was too familiar with those sounds not to recognize them. Someone, two people, were getting beat up on his behalf. They had fought Ushio-san for his sake.

"This is what happens to those who defy me! Remember this!" Ushio-san laughed after he had spoken, loudly and lightheartedly. 'What happens to those who defy me?' No! His friends couldn't have gotten hurt.

Yuugi pushed himself up a few inches, turning his head to look behind him. Jounouchi-kun and Honda-kun lay there, unconscious, and looking every bit as beaten and hurt as Yuugi felt. "Jounouchi-kun! Honda-kun!" The words tore at Yuugi's throat, but the two didn't respond.

 _Ah, I can't wake them up! If only I_ … his eyes squeezed shut and his hands tightened involuntarily, and the feeling of something in his hand registered. His eyes opened, and he opened his palm. A golden puzzle piece lay there, an eye etched into the metal. _The last…piece of the puzzle…_

He looked at the Millennium Puzzle laying just inches away. Yuugi reached out, too overcome by the novelty of having the last piece and finishing the puzzle to truly make his wish. The piece fit exactly, interlocking seamlessly with the rest of the puzzle. It seemed to glow when the final piece was put in its place. He gasped as the eye on the inverted pyramid appeared to send a beam of light right at him.

Yuugi was falling…falling into…darkness…

* * *

He opened his eyes. He must have fallen unconscious from the shock or from the blow to the head Ushio-san had given him. A rage he had never known filled him at the thought of the twice-cursed son of a jackal. He would _pay_ for this.

Yuugi rose unsteadily on his feet, the shadows churning around him. Funny, he had never thought about their power before. But they had power, and he could sense that they were only too willing to help him take care of his little _problem_.

Jounouchi-kun and Honda-kun were still unconscious on the ground, and Yuugi gritted his teeth. They had tried to make him into a real man and he was going to be one. Just with a little twist. The shadows surged, swirling the leaves.

He smirked (and how foreign but how natural it felt on his face) at Ushio's back, calling out to the shadows in his minds, knowing they would respond as dogs to a master's beckon.

"Now…it's game time."

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 **And there you go. Now, if you could just go and leave a review, that'd be awesome. I don't know, maybe I could... *waves around plate of cookies* ...compensate you?**


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